McMurry University - Totem Yearbook (Abilene, TX)

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ADMINISTRATION

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ART BUILDING VET VILLAGE

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THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE Our Priceless Heritage The placing of value on things, experiences, or conditions of life is a familiar process. Whatever we own or desire is thought of in terms of its value. This process of evaluation extends beyond the ma- terial to the realms of the mental, social, and spiritual. The values that a man holds dear are the best possible indications of his character. Most values cue fixed in terms of money. Experiences are simi- larly evaluated. Entertainment or other experience is measured in terms of what they cost. An edu- cation is often thought of in terms of the cost of its acquisition. Spiritual experiences or ideals are evaluated by our investment in them. There is one thing, however, on which no mone- tary value can be placed. It transcends all mone- tary concepts and material boundaries. It is Free- dom. Freedom is our Priceless Heritage, and with- out it nothing else can have real or permanent value. Freedom lies at the foundation of all material possession. Without it. all values become ephemer- al. This priceless thing. Freedom, transcends all other values. The paramount issue of human life in this age in which we live is human Freedom. And Freedom, the divine inheritance of every person, is being challenged today. An attempt is under way to im- pose a vast system of slavery upon humanity. Today a certain concept of political government would not only place chains upon our ankles and bind us to the dictates of others, but would dominate and control our minds and reduce to unreality the vast sweep of our souls. This, my young friends, is the supreme challenge facing the present generation. Freedom must be defended or lost. Freedom must be loved and protected or it will be infiltrated and ultimately destroyed. A tidal wave of despotism—physical, mental, and spiritual—is sweeping across the earth. In our particular time it has taken the form of communism. This withering blight is in our midst, acting as a general anesthetic upon the minds and souls of men. Not to see it is to be blind; to doubt it is to be dumb. How we are able to perceive this danger, the fortitude with which we meet it. and the thoroughness with which we uproot it will determine the future course and destiny of history. Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Man was bom to be free, and above all else. Freedom is our Priceless Heritage—ours to defend and preserve. Sincerely, President of McMurry College 16